Maryland at Virginia, 1 p.m. Saturday, ACC Network
The Cavaliers played one of their worst games of the year Tuesday in a 60-48 loss to Clemson. The 48 points were the second-lowest UVa has scored all season (Virginia Tech held Virginia to 45 Jan. 22). I was at work so I did not watch the game and I also didn't watch the recording, because I figured it would just make me mad. But from what I could gather from stats and stories about the game, Joe Harris was ineffective wearing a cast on his left hand, which he fractured against North Carolina last Saturday. Harris is usually a sharp shooter and has been making close to 50 percent of his 3-pointers during ACC play but against the Tigers he scored just two points on 1 of 5 shooting (0 for 4 from 3). Freshman Malcolm Brogdon actually got his first start of his career, in place of the banged-up Harris. Brogdon scored nine points on 4 of 8 shooting, but also turned the ball over four times, which was Virginia's biggest issue throughout the entire game. The Cavaliers turned the ball over 18 times; 14 of those were Clemson steals. Sammy Zeglinski continued his poor play on offense, making just 1 of 5 shots (all 3-pointers). Mike Scott had another solid night, chipping in with 13 points and eight rebounds, but he made 6 of his 11 shots, a little lower percentage than normal for him, so even he was off. Jontel Evans was probably the best surprise of the game for the Hoos. The junior point guard stepped up his offensive game and tied a career-high with 17 points.
The Virginia men's basketball team is at a crossroads. As ACC play got under way, Virginia (19-5, 6-5 ACC) endured a tough loss at Duke but rebounded with a convincing blowout win at Georgia Tech. Assane Sene broke his ankle, though, and Virginia was down a senior center who was a strong anchor inside to help run Tony Bennett's pack-line defense. With the Cavaliers' chemistry disrupted, they scored just 45 points and lost at home to a lackluster Virginia Tech squad. Virginia learned to play with its new lineup, though, and rebounded once again with wins over Boston College, Clemson, and N.C. State, the latter of which came on the road against a tough and improving Wolfpack team by one point. In its next game, UVa showed grit in making a comeback but fell at Florida State 58-55. Virginia rebounded once again at home and beat Wake Forest easily in a game that wasn't competitive. The Cavaliers' next game came at rival North Carolina, and the Hoos built a small lead in the first half and held a slim 40-37 advantage in the second half before getting outscored 33-12 the rest of the way. What's worse is Harris fractured his left hand in the game and, though he made two 3-pointers after that, was obviously affected by the swelling and the cast in the Clemson game. I just think the adrenaline helped him push through the UNC game but now the hand is definitely affecting him. And I think it was said that he would have to wear the cast 4 to 6 weeks, so it would probably be a long shot for him to be able to play any more regular season games without wearing it.
Virginia's 40-37 lead against the Tar Heels was with 16:50 to play in the game. Since that point though, if you combine the rest of that contest with the Clemson game, the Cavaliers have been outscored 93-60 over the past 56:50 of game play. It doesn't take a math whiz or basketball nerd to understand that is not good.
The Cavaliers still have a solid NCAA tournament resume. Their RPI is about 40 and their strength of schedule is continually improving as they work through the ACC schedule and also, as non-conference opponents such as TCU, Drexel, George Mason, and Michigan have been playing well of late. However, the question is can Virginia eek out 3 to 4 more wins in its depleted state against a pretty tough five-game run to close out the regular season?
Virginia's defense took a hit with Sene going down. The Cavaliers are known for team defense, though, so the players buckled down and have played good D since then -- not as great, but good. Now, Virginia has always had its offensive problems, but those have gotten worse with Harris fracturing his hand. He has always been the team's second-best option after Scott. Now, defenses can clamp down on Scott even more knowing that Harris is playing hurt. Virginia's second-best option right now might be -- believe it or not -- Evans, who isn't close to being considered an offensive dynamo. However, he is becoming pretty adept at penetrating the lane (hopefully he can convert more of his lay-ups). But he can't make a good number of jump shots to keep defenses honest. Brogdon is certainly improving and isn't afraid to shoot, but he makes freshman mistakes and has been somewhat careless with the ball at times. Zeglinski is in what seems like the biggest slump of his career. Akil Mitchell and Darion Atkins are still learning to score with their backs to the basket. And Paul Jesperson hasn't even played the entire season since he didn't burn his redshirt until KT Harrell and James Johnson transferred around Christmas. He's known as a shooter but hasn't shown a touch thus far, making just 3 of his 20 3-pointers (.150). Hopefully, Harris can get used to playing with the cast and be more effective than he was against Clemson. I doubt, though, he can return to consistently scoring in double digits. Virginia just doesn't have a lot of options right now. Someone needs to step up big-time if the Cavs want to make a push to the NCAA tournament. And it starts Saturday with rival Maryland coming to John Paul Jones Arena. Whatever happens with this game, I will see because I am going to it -- so there's no escaping if it is an ugly game.
Maryland (15-10, 5-6 ACC) is a solid team that is in the middle of the ACC this season, lumped in with other five- and six-win ACC teams Clemson, Miami, and Virginia. The Terrapins have endured their share of tough games this season -- a 20-point loss to Alabama, a 26-point loss to Iona (a good team, but a mid-major), and a 13-point loss to Temple. Additionally, the Terps have failed to blow out some terrible teams -- they beat Florida Gulf Coast, Mount St. Mary's, Florida International, Radford, Cornell, and Wake Forest by less than 10 points. All of those teams are .500 or worse. Maryland has a few decent wins, including one over Notre Dame (who is very good now but was weak at the beginning of the season), at Colorado (a bubble team, but sinking fast), Virginia Tech at home, and at Clemson. It also played North Carolina tough at home but ended up losing 83-74. Maryland is led by the ACC's top scorer, sophomore Terrell Stoglin, who is averaging 21.7 points per game. After that, though, there is a big drop-off. Sean Mosley is next in line averaging 10.3 points per game. After him, Maryland has four players averaging at least 6.5 points and 20 minutes per game -- James Padgett, Nick Faust, Alex Len, and Pe'Shon Howard. Faust and Len are promising freshmen. Len (7-foot-1, 225 pounds) could definitely be a load. He hails from Ukraine and played on its U-18 national team in the European Championships in 2010 and averaged 16 points, 11.4 rebounds, and 4.3 blocks per game. Maryland is a very young team -- among top scorers, only Mosley is a senior.
Maryland sits right in the middle of the conference in field goal percentage and 3-point percentage. Mosley is the biggest threat from long-range as he is hitting 41.5 percent in ACC play. Maryland ranks in the bottom 3 of the conference in free-throw shooting.
Virginia must protect the ball better than it did against Clemson. In that game, the Cavaliers actually shot 50 percent from the field, but just didn't get enough looks because they turned the ball over so much. The Tigers are actually third in the ACC in steals per game with 4.2. Luckily for UVa, the Terps are dead last in the conference in the same category (2.7), so hopefully the Cavaliers end up with less empty possessions than they did against the Tigers.
More good news for Virginia's struggling offense is that only Wake Forest (70.1) is ranked lower in the ACC than Maryland (70) in terms of points allowed per game. Virginia should get some good looks against the Terrapins.
Virginia has another great challenge Saturday. Maryland and UVa hate each other (hate seems to be especially strong on Maryland's side) and the Terrapins are always a tough out. They have one good scorer though, so hopefully Bennett & Co. can slow down Stoglin and make it difficult for the Terps to put up points. Stoglin will likely get his points, but maybe UVa can keep him in the 15-point range and not allow many other double-digit scorers. The offense should fare better against Maryland than it did against Clemson, given Maryland's lack of steals and propensity to give up points. And I think it will have to -- 48 won't be enough. I expect a closely contested ball game played in the lower-to-mid-50s and hopefully Virginia comes out as a desperate team fighting to play deep into March.
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| UVa guard Malcolm Brogdon virginiasports.com |
The Virginia men's basketball team is at a crossroads. As ACC play got under way, Virginia (19-5, 6-5 ACC) endured a tough loss at Duke but rebounded with a convincing blowout win at Georgia Tech. Assane Sene broke his ankle, though, and Virginia was down a senior center who was a strong anchor inside to help run Tony Bennett's pack-line defense. With the Cavaliers' chemistry disrupted, they scored just 45 points and lost at home to a lackluster Virginia Tech squad. Virginia learned to play with its new lineup, though, and rebounded once again with wins over Boston College, Clemson, and N.C. State, the latter of which came on the road against a tough and improving Wolfpack team by one point. In its next game, UVa showed grit in making a comeback but fell at Florida State 58-55. Virginia rebounded once again at home and beat Wake Forest easily in a game that wasn't competitive. The Cavaliers' next game came at rival North Carolina, and the Hoos built a small lead in the first half and held a slim 40-37 advantage in the second half before getting outscored 33-12 the rest of the way. What's worse is Harris fractured his left hand in the game and, though he made two 3-pointers after that, was obviously affected by the swelling and the cast in the Clemson game. I just think the adrenaline helped him push through the UNC game but now the hand is definitely affecting him. And I think it was said that he would have to wear the cast 4 to 6 weeks, so it would probably be a long shot for him to be able to play any more regular season games without wearing it.
Virginia's 40-37 lead against the Tar Heels was with 16:50 to play in the game. Since that point though, if you combine the rest of that contest with the Clemson game, the Cavaliers have been outscored 93-60 over the past 56:50 of game play. It doesn't take a math whiz or basketball nerd to understand that is not good.
The Cavaliers still have a solid NCAA tournament resume. Their RPI is about 40 and their strength of schedule is continually improving as they work through the ACC schedule and also, as non-conference opponents such as TCU, Drexel, George Mason, and Michigan have been playing well of late. However, the question is can Virginia eek out 3 to 4 more wins in its depleted state against a pretty tough five-game run to close out the regular season?
Virginia's defense took a hit with Sene going down. The Cavaliers are known for team defense, though, so the players buckled down and have played good D since then -- not as great, but good. Now, Virginia has always had its offensive problems, but those have gotten worse with Harris fracturing his hand. He has always been the team's second-best option after Scott. Now, defenses can clamp down on Scott even more knowing that Harris is playing hurt. Virginia's second-best option right now might be -- believe it or not -- Evans, who isn't close to being considered an offensive dynamo. However, he is becoming pretty adept at penetrating the lane (hopefully he can convert more of his lay-ups). But he can't make a good number of jump shots to keep defenses honest. Brogdon is certainly improving and isn't afraid to shoot, but he makes freshman mistakes and has been somewhat careless with the ball at times. Zeglinski is in what seems like the biggest slump of his career. Akil Mitchell and Darion Atkins are still learning to score with their backs to the basket. And Paul Jesperson hasn't even played the entire season since he didn't burn his redshirt until KT Harrell and James Johnson transferred around Christmas. He's known as a shooter but hasn't shown a touch thus far, making just 3 of his 20 3-pointers (.150). Hopefully, Harris can get used to playing with the cast and be more effective than he was against Clemson. I doubt, though, he can return to consistently scoring in double digits. Virginia just doesn't have a lot of options right now. Someone needs to step up big-time if the Cavs want to make a push to the NCAA tournament. And it starts Saturday with rival Maryland coming to John Paul Jones Arena. Whatever happens with this game, I will see because I am going to it -- so there's no escaping if it is an ugly game.
Maryland (15-10, 5-6 ACC) is a solid team that is in the middle of the ACC this season, lumped in with other five- and six-win ACC teams Clemson, Miami, and Virginia. The Terrapins have endured their share of tough games this season -- a 20-point loss to Alabama, a 26-point loss to Iona (a good team, but a mid-major), and a 13-point loss to Temple. Additionally, the Terps have failed to blow out some terrible teams -- they beat Florida Gulf Coast, Mount St. Mary's, Florida International, Radford, Cornell, and Wake Forest by less than 10 points. All of those teams are .500 or worse. Maryland has a few decent wins, including one over Notre Dame (who is very good now but was weak at the beginning of the season), at Colorado (a bubble team, but sinking fast), Virginia Tech at home, and at Clemson. It also played North Carolina tough at home but ended up losing 83-74. Maryland is led by the ACC's top scorer, sophomore Terrell Stoglin, who is averaging 21.7 points per game. After that, though, there is a big drop-off. Sean Mosley is next in line averaging 10.3 points per game. After him, Maryland has four players averaging at least 6.5 points and 20 minutes per game -- James Padgett, Nick Faust, Alex Len, and Pe'Shon Howard. Faust and Len are promising freshmen. Len (7-foot-1, 225 pounds) could definitely be a load. He hails from Ukraine and played on its U-18 national team in the European Championships in 2010 and averaged 16 points, 11.4 rebounds, and 4.3 blocks per game. Maryland is a very young team -- among top scorers, only Mosley is a senior.
Maryland sits right in the middle of the conference in field goal percentage and 3-point percentage. Mosley is the biggest threat from long-range as he is hitting 41.5 percent in ACC play. Maryland ranks in the bottom 3 of the conference in free-throw shooting.
Virginia must protect the ball better than it did against Clemson. In that game, the Cavaliers actually shot 50 percent from the field, but just didn't get enough looks because they turned the ball over so much. The Tigers are actually third in the ACC in steals per game with 4.2. Luckily for UVa, the Terps are dead last in the conference in the same category (2.7), so hopefully the Cavaliers end up with less empty possessions than they did against the Tigers.
More good news for Virginia's struggling offense is that only Wake Forest (70.1) is ranked lower in the ACC than Maryland (70) in terms of points allowed per game. Virginia should get some good looks against the Terrapins.
Virginia has another great challenge Saturday. Maryland and UVa hate each other (hate seems to be especially strong on Maryland's side) and the Terrapins are always a tough out. They have one good scorer though, so hopefully Bennett & Co. can slow down Stoglin and make it difficult for the Terps to put up points. Stoglin will likely get his points, but maybe UVa can keep him in the 15-point range and not allow many other double-digit scorers. The offense should fare better against Maryland than it did against Clemson, given Maryland's lack of steals and propensity to give up points. And I think it will have to -- 48 won't be enough. I expect a closely contested ball game played in the lower-to-mid-50s and hopefully Virginia comes out as a desperate team fighting to play deep into March.
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